Best Evacuation Practices in Volatile Circumstances. Japan

Transcription

1 Best Evacuation Practices in Volatile Circumstances Learning from Egypt, Libya and Japan

2 Presenters Bruce McIndoe President, ijet Recognized leader in the risk management, travel and intelligence industries Key contributor to ijet sstrategic growth, securing its position as a leader in business resiliency with the development of the Worldcue Global Control Center. John Rendeiro, Jr. VP, Global Security & Intelligence International SOS Assistance, Inc. Prior to joining International SOS, Rendeirowas Assistant Director of the Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Department of State, responsible for all international security operations for the Department. In this capacity, he was responsible for directing Bureau of Diplomatic Security programs protecting the Department's international facilities and personnel from the threats of terrorism, espionage, and crime.

3 Presenters Tom Winn Senior Chief of Operations and Intelligence for FrontierMEDEX Security Services Tom is responsible for creating, improving and expanding many of Security Services' key initiatives Has participated in managing several evacuations in the past seven years. Most recently he was part of the team that was responsible for evacuating people from Cairo and Libya.

4 Egypt 2011: Civil Unrest Emergency Timeline

5 Egypt Timeline of Events Jan 28, Friday: First alerts sent by International SOS International SOS Incident Management Team deployed Jan 29, Saturday: Global and Regional Crisis Management Teams activated Assessment of resources and client needs Jan 30, Sunday: Evacuee Assembly Area established First evacuations begin flights to Frankfurt and Paris depart, Bae 146 and Airbus A320 Jan 31, Monday: Third flight from remote site Boeing 737 Feb 1, Tuesday: Fourth and fifth flights depart for Dubai and Paris, MD 83 and Airbus 320 Feb 2, Wednesday: Sixth flight Charter Airbus 320 to Paris Feb 3, Thursday: Seventh and eighth flights to Paris and Dubai, Airbus 321 and C605 (Jet) Summary: 1250 people evacuated by charter and commercial air

6 EGYPT Challenges Obtaining landing rights at Cairo airport Communications Getting evacuees to assembly areas at the right time

7 Libya Crisis -2011

8 LIBYA 2011 On February 19, as unrest in Libya escalated, a Crisis Management Team was established at the International SOS London alarm center, supported by teams in Philadelphia, Paris and Dubai. Using our online tracking tool, we quicklyidentified 760 members present in Libya from more than 40 corporations dispersed across a huge area: in Tripoli, Benghazi and the oil fields in the south. Difficulty getting landing rights and terminal space at Tripoli airport where conditions were frenzied, with violence and looting nearby. Airspace over Benghazi was completely shut down.

9 LIBYA 2011 Assessing the challenges: The team activated a logistical and security provider in Tripoli to provide immediate support to clients stranded in and around the city. We stayed in touch with members in Tripoli, advising them only to move to the airport once it was safe and a flight was likely to depart. For clients in remote sites, the team advised personnel to stand fast until suitable evacuation options were confirmed.

10 LIBYA 2011 Establishing a strategic presence: Booked hundreds of seats on Air Malta, one of few airlines operating out of Tripoli. Established an Incident Management Teams in Malta, a one-hour flight from Tripoli, in a secure area of the airport and at the port. Between February 23 and 28, we evacuated clients using scheduled commercial flights, chartered aircraft and ferries. With most communications networks in Libya paralyzed, the security provider in Tripoli provided critical up-to-date information on conditions in the cityand helped clients to reach flights and ferries, while our teams communicated with clients to adapt plans.

11 LIBYA 2011 Assisting clients in remote areas As fighting became fiercer, on February 22-23, two more Incident Management Teams with medical and security expertise were deployed to receive people at border locations in Egypt and Tunisia. Receiving evacuees At airports and ferry terminals in Malta, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Amman, Cairo and Dubai, reception teams met evacuees, gave them food and drink, helped with their immigration and visas, arranged accommodation, and coordinated their onward travel.

12 LIBYA 2011 In total: Over 1,500 evacuations were supported 835 tickets were issued for commercial air travel 11 flights were conducted, including 8 commercial and 3 charter flights 96 people were evacuated by ferry

13 JAPAN 2011

14 JAPAN 2011 An 8.9-magnitude earthquake [was revised up to 9.0] and subsequent tsunamis struck the northeast coast of the main island of Honshu, Japan on Friday, March 11, at 2.46 p.m. local time. Subsequently tsunamis developed along the Pan Pacific region. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, in Okumamachi was affected. Officials were monitoring the situation and evacuated hundreds of thousands of residents from the surrounding area. A Crisis Management Team at International SOS Tokyo was activated immediately along with teams in Singapore, Philadelphia and London. We monitored the situation closely and activated medical, security, logistics and aviation resources from our global network of 28 alarm centers to provide assistance to our clients and members.

15 JAPAN 2011

16 JAPAN 2011

17 JAPAN 2011 International SOS Advice Defer non-essential travel to Tokyo and Northern Honshu Avoid all travel to designated exclusion zones around the Fukishima nuclear power plants. Personnel should comply with instructions from local authorities. Identify non-essential employees and dependents for possible relocation significantly beyond the currently recommended 80km (50 miles) evacuation zone from the affected Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. Consider sending international assignees to a practical and suitable location, possibly for some time to come.

18 JAPAN 2011 Is Evacuation Required? At present the current radiation levels outside of the designated exclusion zones do not warrant a wider evacuation from Japan. Japanese authorities and the IAEA remain the key benchmarks for assessing the real as opposed to perceived threat. Our advice is in line with this reality.

19 JAPAN 2011 Is Evacuation Required? There are still unknowns regarding the outlook: Uncertainty around containment efforts at nuclear facility Unpredictability of further seismic activity Demands on essential services/power cuts Demands on surface and air transport, aggravated by perceptions As per our advice, the full range of options are available for relocation of non-essential staff significantly beyond the exclusion zones. For those looking at repatriating staff for a period of time, commercial air options remain available. Monitor Japanese and other government authorities, seismic activity, for further tripwires.

20 JAPAN 2011 Radiation & Risks The risk to public health so far is very low to negligible. (Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, March 16) The actions proposed by the Government of Japan are in line with the existing recommendations based on public health expertise. The government is asking people living within 20km of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to evacuate and those between 20km and 30km away from the plant are asked to stay indoors in unventilated rooms. People living farther away are at lower risk than those who live nearby. (World Health Organization, March 15)

21 JAPAN 2011 Spread The more radiation released, the further the materials are likely to spread. The geographic path and the distance the radioactive material will travel are dependent upon prevailing weather conditions. "In the reasonable worst case scenario at Fukushima, a plume would only be emitted to a maximum height of 500m, so any radioactive cloud would land very close to the reactor. (UK Chief Scientific Officer, March 15) He confirmed a 20km exclusion zone and a further 10km zone where residents are advised to stay indoors are appropriate for minimizing health effects from direct radiation exposure.

22 JAPAN 2011 Distances from Fukushima to*: City Kilometers Miles Beijing 2069 km 1285 miles Hong Kong 3019 km 1876 miles Jakarta 6000 km 3731 miles Manila 3223 km 2002 miles Seoul 1163 km 722 miles Shanghai 1872 km 1163 miles Singapore 5511 km 3424 miles Taipei 2278 km 1415 miles Tokyo 242 km 150 miles * based on Google Maps distance measurement tool

23 JAPAN 2011 Sourcing Potassium Iodide (KI) In Japan: Potassium iodide distribution is regulated by the Japanese Government to avoid parallel stock piling and to increase availability to those in need. Outside Japan: it may be possible to source KI directly from manufacturers and distributors. However, these are often only licensed to provide pharmaceuticals to medical organizations. The import of pharmaceuticals in Japan is highly regulated. Only registered pharmaceuticals in Japan can be distributed in Japan AEA International Holdings Pte. Ltd. For permission to reprint contact International SOS.

24 JAPAN 2011 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)(physical barrier to internal/external contamination) CONFERS NO PROTECTION AGAINST IRRADIATION AD HOC PPE:

25 JAPAN 2011 Japan Earthquake: The Aftermath Webinar Poll Results March 17, 2011 Methodology To obtain this data, International SOS surveyed security professionals, corporate travel managers and human resources executives, among others, who attended a webinar on March 17, 2011 titled Japan Earthquake: The Aftermath. The survey was distributed to 641 attendees via the Webexpolling feature. On average, the response rate per question was 70%. Respondents were from international organizations, with the majority of respondents being based in the US. *Response rate varied for each question.

26 JAPAN What actions have you taken on behalf of your organization's travelers or expatriates in Japan? Evacuation (18%) Assistance arranging commercial transportation (40%) None of above (42%) 2. How much of an impact have the earthquake and tsunami had on your organization's operations? Significant impact (14%) Moderate impact (30%) Low impact (56%)

27 JAPAN Do you have business travelers/expatriates/students in Japan? Yes (73%) No (27%) 4. What has been your organization's greatest challenge? Getting up to date accurate information (60%) Communication (26%) Internal decision making and coordination of actions (42%) Secure transport to airport (5%) Evacuation (6%)

28 Importance of a Plan Follow the plan that was written when heads were cooler and there was time to think Organizations that do not have a plan may face: Unnecessary and costly delays Inability to evacuate Significant confusion Loss of confidence from evacuees

29 Updating the Plan An old plan can be as bad or worse than no plan Items to update should include: Location contact information (regular updates) If you have Traveler Tracking --a moment when that list is reviewed A way to stop/ban additional travel to a location that has flared up

30 Updating the Plan(cont.) Copies of CURRENT travel documents If a tiered system, a set of triggers to elevate to the next level List of who will be evacuated and who will not How/what people need to pack for an evacuation A primary contact between security and the rest of the company

31 Some Lessons Learned Local nationals who have dual citizenship and using the wrong passport Afraid of a resource drain, Egypt closed the border to local nationals trying to leave Those who entered on the home country passport had their departures delayed Some were turned away at the airport No entry stamp --you could be seen as being illegally in the country and NOT a dual citizen

32 Some Lessons Learned Dependents - Children Do they get out earlier? More seats and/or tickets? Extra care! Traumatic and scary Need additional supervision in an already chaotic environment Don t last as long w/out water, food, etc.

33 Some Lessons Learned What about those locals we love and want to evacuate/take care of? Who can go? Who willgo? Will they leave family? Will they leave their home? Who needs to go? Continuity reasons Specialty reasons

34 Some Lessons Learned Packing Give a list to all expatriates that can serve as a checklist. Prioritize luggage: Bag 1, Bag 2 Bag 1 should be critical items. Meds Some clothes Water Toilet/personal items Bag 2 can be left behind. May be irretrievable

35 Some Lessons Learned Pets. It may surprise you how often this is a last minute issue. An expatriate family should be aware that if they have a pet they may have to leave it behind. Evacuating pets is problematic in the best circumstances Quarantine laws Transport requirements Aircraft limitations Food / water / facilities are all extra challenges with pets.

36 Preliminary Steps When the situation starts to slide Verify Emergency Plan action items and update as needed Create a go bag for everyone. This is the primary bag. Ensure that all documents are accounted for and keep them on your person Consider commercial airlines in order to get out early Examine the need for dependents to be there

37 Preliminary Steps Verify and update all contact information, cell phone numbers, etc. Appoint the crisis lead at the home office. Begin daily situation updates between expats and crisis lead/team. If you have a satellite phone, test it and ensure that all know how to use it.

38 What is in the Go Bag? Copies of travel documents Cash some on your person, some hidden in the bag. NOT with the documents Medicine for 7-10 days Diabetic supplies 7-10 days Toothbrush toothpaste 2 days of clothes, 4 days of underwear 1 roll of toilet paper in each bag Any other toilet / personal supplies

39 What is in the Go Bag? Bottle of water (keep it can be a canteen) Water purification tabs if you have them Hand sanitizer -1 small bottle in each bag Book or something to keep you occupied Cell phone and charger Child s favorite blanket and stuffed animal book/small game/charger

40 Commercial Out is Best Way In the end. A commercial departure a little early is faster, less complicated and the best way out. Lack of readiness: Can, at best, delay the evacuation Can even stop it from happening As the window closes it get much more difficult to leave.